SDSU athletic director again denies rumors of possibly staying in Mountain West

That was athletic director Jim Sterk’s message when he addressed the media in a press conference Tuesday morning.

“We’re excited about our move to the Big East, the Big East is committed to a national strategy with football, and San Diego State is committed to that strategy and to the Big East,” Sterk said.

In a 20-minute question-and-answer session, Sterk emphasized in multiple ways that the Aztecs will not be returning to the Mountain West.

Murmurs of an about face first surfaced on Monday, when
ESPN.com reported that SDSU, Boise State and BYU “have had conversations with Mountain West membership about rejoining the league.”

Sterk denied those rumors Monday, and again at the press conference on Tuesday.

“We’re a part of, and we’re moving forward with, a national football conference. We made a strategic decision to do that last December, and nothing has changed,” said Sterk, stressing that he has not even bothered to check details of the Aztecs’ exit clause in their contract with the Big East.

Maryland struck off this new round of conference realignment on Monday when the Terps left the ACC for the Big Ten. Rutgers joined them in the Big Ten on Tuesday, leaving the Big East with a hole to fill. But the league could still lose a couple more teams.

Citing unnamed sources,
CBSSports.com reported that the ACC would be interested in replacing Maryland with Big East members such as Louisville or Connecticut.

Sterk acknowledged that the Big East of 2013 might look drastically different from the league the Aztecs signed up for last year, but said he was not daunted by the changes.

“The Big East took a hit, may continue to take some others, but I can tell you that the league will continue to be strong,” said Sterk, expressing that he has full confidence in league Commissioner Mike Aresco’s leadership. “We have five to six programs that have been in the top 10 in the last six years, and we’ll continue to do that and challenge for BCS championships in the next year.”

Sterk said at this point there is no scenario under which he could envision moving back to the Mountain West.

Even if Boise State decided to return?

“Well, I don’t look backwards,” said Sterk, reiterating that the Aztecs are going to the Big East.

Recruiting impact

SDSU football coach Rocky Long and men’s basketball coach Steve Fisher both said they have no preference regarding the school’s conference.

But when asked if conference affiliation has any impact on recruiting, Long’s answer was immediate and definite.

“Yes, it does,” Long said. “It doesn’t matter how good of football you play, young men coming up have the same prejudice that the media does because they watch TV and they read the newspaper and they listen to the radio and all that.

“So if the media has a prejudice (in favor of) the traditional conferences, so will a young man that you’re recruiting.”

And therein lies one of the biggest factors that have the Aztecs swearing to hold fast in their commitment to the Big East.

The conference is still something of a brand name.

Even though the Bowl Championship Series bowl system is going the way of the dinosaurs, the Big East in 2012 is still one of six conferences that have an automatic berth to a BCS bowl, and is arguably still held in higher regard than the Mountain West.

Because of that, it is expected to fetch a larger media rights deal than the Mountain West. If SDSU had stayed in the Mountain West, it would have gotten about $800,000 in TV revenue this year.

In contrast, the most conservative of estimates from SDSU’s independent analysts cited $6.4 million as the media rights sum the Aztecs could hope to net annually as a football-only member of the Big East.

“I think this conference has always fought an image,” said Long, referring to the Mountain West. “I think the football in this conference is a whole lot better than anybody gives it credit for, and it’s totally by population centers.

“There are very few population centers that come with this conference, so you don’t get the same viewership. But the conference plays great football, as good as a lot of the ‘major conferences.’ ”

The problem, as Long volunteered, is that “all media has a bias to traditional conferences.”

But Fisher, whose team will play in the Big West, downplayed the impact conference prestige has in recruiting.

“I think what everybody wants to know is, ‘Who do you play? Are you on TV?’ That’s what everybody talks about. And a close second to that is, ‘How quickly can I play?’ ” Fisher said. “So what we deal with is no different than anybody else.

“So wherever we are, we’ll make it work. We’ll structure what we do surrounding the league that we’re in.”

It also helps that basketball scheduling is less structured than football.

The SDSU men’s basketball team, for instance, recently played Syracuse in the Battle on the Midway and just added a home-and-home with Kansas that will begin next season.

“We’re too good and have too much to offer, regardless of where we are, not to land on our feet and be one of the cornerstones for whatever league we’re in,” Fisher said.